Low Cost 100% Disposable Plastic Fermentation

[Siberian]

I've been playing around with the plastic bucket liners I first saw in BYO. It's worked well until I accidentally introduced wild yeast to some of my bucket lids.

Rather than replace the lids, I've come up with a solution that I think offers a sanitary solution for primary fermentation that avoids the use of glass carboys and the issues with scratches/bugs living in plastic.

What I'm doing is using a couple of rubber bands and essentially Aussie style cling wrap covers for fermentation to create a sanitary environment to ferment in that once I rack the beer out can simply be thrown in the trash.

No fuss, no muss.

First I line the bucket with a fresh bag. Then I place a second bag into that liner and run off my wort into it. I aerate at run off using a vigorous run off into the fermentor to insure sufficient foam/oxygenation takes place. At this point I close the second bag and wrap it tightly with a small rubber band to hold it closed. Finally, I take a 3rd bag, place it over the top of the bucket and using a larger rubber band attach it tightly and securely to the side of the bucket.

Ends up looking like this:

Few more images are here (they're displaying upside down in the forum for some reason or I'd embed them): http://inspiredfermentations.com/chasing-infection-designing-a-100-disposable-fermentor/

I'm pretty sure this isn't suitable for long term aging, but for primary (2-3 weeks) while fermentation is active this seems like it works fine. So far though I've only used it for smaller beers (6% and lower), nothing that produces an overly huge kruasen. But, fermcap might help with that issue if it became one with this solution since blow-off tubes are hard to setup for this.

It's interesting how much moisture is produced during fermentation, after a day or so the inner bag is covered in small water droplets inside.

 

[atom]

am i missing the point on why? to avoid cleaning a bucket?

 

[Auger]

So every time you brew a 5gal batch, you're consuming 3 large plastic trash bags? Holy hell that seems unnecessarily wasteful. I've never heard of this before.

 

[Auger]

Brings this to mind:

 

[Auger]

After re-reading a few times to try and understand the motivation here, I guess this is it?

I've come up with a solution that I think offers a sanitary solution for primary fermentation that avoids the use of glass carboys and the issues with scratches/bugs living in plastic.

I've been using the same three buckets and 4 glass carboys for over 10 years. I can count on one hand the number of infected batches I've had, and all of them I've been able to trace back to causes other than the fermenter, and never had recurring issues. I don't think I'm in the minority with this. This seems like much less of a problem than you make it out to be. If you're having recurring issues that you are trying to solve with this, you might be better off taking a hard look at your cleaning and sanitizing processes (and they really need to be taken as two separate processes).

 

[kh54s10]

If it works....

Seems like a PITA to me. I've been using PET bottles and occasionally a bucket for 5+ years with no infections.

Damn, I just jinxed myself!!

 

[AkBrew907]

.

 

[aprichman]

If you follow proper sanitation you shouldn't have a problem with fermenting in plastic buckets or PET/glass carboys.

Post Brew: Rinse -> Hot alkaline wash -> Rinse -> Acid wash -> Storage

Pre Brew: Rinse -> No rinse sanitizer

I'd be surprised if there were any microorganisms commonly found in most home breweries that could survive a hot soak (~140F) of properly diluted PBW followed up with a rinse of acid based cleaner like Star San.

Of course you're going to want to hit any equipment with a no rinse sanitizer right before you transfer your wort as well.

 

[dmcman73]

Ummm,,,,where do you install the airlock / blow off tube? Would seem like a big bubble waiting to burst if there is no airlock. Not sure if Fermcap will stop the production of CO2 during fermentation.

 

[FlyDoctor]

https://shop.brewcraftusa.com/en/ge...-6-5-gallon-genesis-fermenter-bundle-1519-1-1

 

[Siberian]

Ummm,,,,where do you install the airlock / blow off tube? Would seem like a big bubble waiting to burst if there is no airlock. Not sure if Fermcap will stop the production of CO2 during fermentation.

As the pressure builds up during fermentation it bleeds out past the rubber band. The band releases excess pressure before the plastic ruptures.

 

[Siberian]

If you follow proper sanitation you shouldn't have a problem with fermenting in plastic buckets or PET/glass carboys.

Post Brew: Rinse -> Hot alkaline wash -> Rinse -> Acid wash -> Storage

Pre Brew: Rinse -> No rinse sanitizer

I'd be surprised if there were any microorganisms commonly found in most home breweries that could survive a hot soak (~140F) of properly diluted PBW followed up with a rinse of acid based cleaner like Star San.

Of course you're going to want to hit any equipment with a no rinse sanitizer right before you transfer your wort as well.

I'm well aware of the process. Never had a problem with that and glass. But I have at least two lids now that after a hot soak with PBW, complete immersion into starsan, then spray with starsan just as the wort goes in still harbor something that follows them to the next batch.

 

[IslandLizard]

So every time you brew a 5gal batch, you're consuming 3 large plastic trash bags? Holy hell that seems unnecessarily wasteful. I've never heard of this before.

I agree, this is terribly wasteful.

Why would a plastic bucket harbor bugs? Why not be careful not to scratch it. It have a few buckets with small scratches, doesn't seem to affect anything. Nylon brush => Hot PBW => Rinse well => Mop with Starsan. I do set them outside in bright sunlight from time to time.

 

[Siberian]

Brings this to mind:

[spoon image removed]

I wonder how 3 thin 10g bags stacks up with the energy use of 5-6 gallons of 140 degree heated water and chemicals?

Hot water isn't environmentally zero impact either unless you have a solar water array on your roof.

Either way I'm not too concerned, we're both saving plenty of oil not buying beer that's been trucked to a store.

 

[Auger]

I wonder how 3 thin 10g bags stacks up with the energy use of 5-6 gallons of 140 degree heated water and chemicals?

Hot water isn't environmentally zero impact either unless you have a solar water array on your roof.

Either way I'm not too concerned, we're both saving plenty of oil not buying beer that's been trucked to a store.

No, it's not zero, but many brewers (myself included) don't heat up water explicitly for cleaning *a* bucket. I either put fermentors and kegs aside for cleaning and make one batch of PBW to clean multiple vessels, or use the water that is heated through my immersion chiller to then clean up at the end of the brew day.

I guess for me the impact isn't as much the up-front resource consumption, more about the post-process waste of throwing all those plastic bags into the trash for every batch. Plastic bags are an environmental scourge.

 

[SunnyDownSnuff]

Well this is an odd methodology to be sure but I am not going to cast the first stone here, in the grand scheme of things these plastic bags are hardly a blip on the environmental impact of flying in a jet, heating water for my shower, heating or cooling my house, or the plastic parts in all the automobiles I've owned in a lifetime now sitting for the next 10,000 years in a landfill somewhere. Aside from that, The PVC people use in their processes has more carcinogens than your bags. Anyway I figure your method is what works for you, and if it works for you, more power to you. Thanks for sharing your approach, it's by trying new approaches and sharing ideas that we learn and move forward, regardless of whether or not we agree. Cheers!